


(Not So) Average American High School

by HydraCarnival



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-18 15:24:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15488892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HydraCarnival/pseuds/HydraCarnival
Summary: Scorpius doesn't know what to think of his new suburban private school. He REALLY doesn't know what to think of the attractive black haired boy that sits behind him in History.





	1. (Not So) Bad Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Who agrees I need to stop writing new fics before I finish the old ones!!!! I'll be adding tags, characters, and relationships as they sprout (haha) up. 
> 
> This is blatantly inspired by "Wildcard" by parseltonquinq. It's the best go read it I have it bookmarked.

The pebbled road leading up to Ilvermorny Preparatory High School was menacing, to say the least. The school building itself was perched atop a grassy hill which overlooked the entire city of Newton, Massachusetts. The stone structure was actually built into the hill in such a way that the back of the school (the side facing away from the town) extended down into the hill. Nestled in the adjacent valley were the school’s parking lots and the sports fields, courts, and tracks. It was a clever feat of architecture and engineering. Menacing, though. Truly menacing. 

 

Scorpius Malfoy wouldn’t have been worried about his first day at the school if it weren’t for the fact that it was the first day of the spring semester of his junior year. His father had been offered a position at the Boston branch of his investment firm. This meant slightly more money for less work, but it also meant moving his family out of New York City. Scorpius had loved growing up in the city. His father, Draco, was a successful broker on Wall Street while his mother, Astoria, worked as a patent attorney for a publishing company. With both of his parents working incredibly high level jobs, Scorpius had various nannies who ranged from smothering to unbothered--until he turned thirteen. For whatever reason the Malfoy’s decided that he could hold his own when he became a teenager. He was always considerably tall for his age and though he ended up maxing out at six feet when he was sixteen, he was never presented with any real danger while roaming the city alone. 

 

For some reason, starting this new school seemed like it would present  _ many  _ dangers. 

 

Scorpius had toured multiple schools in the suburban Boston area before they settled on IPHS. Astoria liked it because it was pretty and the closest to their home, Draco liked it because it had exceptionally high marks, and Scorpius liked it because liking it meant his parents would stop bothering him about picking a place. 

 

They had moved into the white manor on the outskirts of Newton on Christmas Eve. The rooms were almost all bare considering they had previously lived in a penthouse suite that was a fraction of this home. Scorpius didn’t think they needed six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, but it wasn’t exactly his decision. It was the worst Christmas of his entire life. They didn’t even have a tree. 

 

He had been allowed to choose his bedroom, though. Draco and Astoria had even offered him the master, but he ended up choosing the suite in the basement. It was an older home, but the previous owners had turned the former cellar into a gorgeous modern layout. The staircase was housed behind a door in the mudroom that came off of the garage, and at the bottom of the steps there was a moderately sized sitting area with room for a nice TV, as well as a small bar with a sink, microwave, and mini fridge. Off to the left there was a large empty room that Scorpius was going to turn into a studio and straight ahead from the stairs there was a good sized bedroom with a walk in closet and a full bathroom. It was way more space than what he had in New York, but he was planning on making it just as contemporary. He had fallen in love with clean lines and white tiles and especially graffiti. Scorpius was very much taken by art, to the slight dismay of his mother and father. 

 

Scorpius’ mind continued to wander as his parents drove around the front of the school to drop him off. He didn’t have a driver's license yet, as there was never a need in the city, and he wasn’t too embarrassed as many of his soon-to-be peers were unloading at the same time. 

 

He didn’t much care for the Ilvermorny uniforms. Under his winter coat he wore the gold-lined deep cerulean sweater and cranberry trousers that were mandated across all students. The school crest adorned the left breast of the sweater. Scorpius noticed that some students wore variations of these items; cranberry blazers and blue button ups, multi-colored argyle vests and modest skirts, etc. But the colors were the same, and everyone had the crest. Scorpius and his parents hadn’t had much of a chance to stock up on varied items, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t want to be wearing the same pieces everyday. 

 

Reluctantly exiting the car and saying goodbye to his mother, Scorpius made his way through the large wooden doors into an extravagant entrance hall. There were two large staircases along the right and left walls, with equally large arched doorways laying before them, presumably leading to hallways of classrooms or gathering spaces. The staircases were joined by a balcony system that lined the perimeter of the upper level, keeping the entrance tall and open. Six more archways could be seen up there, two coming right from each stairway, respectively, two mirroring the ones on the lower level, and two more next to the former two. The school was obviously massive from the outside, but being inside it somehow felt even more huge. 

 

The biggest archway of all was in between the two staircases on the lower level. Scorpius followed the flow of students into the biggest room he had ever stepped foot in. Five long tables filled the room, one arranged horizontally on the far wall and the other four aligned vertically, parallel to one another in the main space. Gold plates on the end of each table told him that each table belonged to each of the grades (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior). Hundreds of students sat and chatted or stood and joked in what Scorpius assumed must have been the cafeteria. His suspicions were confirmed when he scanned the room to discover four more small archways, two on each side, that appeared to hold long, skinny, hallway-type rooms with lunch lines. These, too, were parallel to the students’ tables, but they were hidden through the archways behind a wall to keep the room looking uncluttered (Scorpius supposed)?

 

_ What is it with this place and archways?  _ Scorpius wondered to himself. 

 

Looking back on the largest one of them all, he noticed two more staircases yet, these ones flanking either side of entryway on the back wall of the cafeteria. Gold signs above them signified that the left led to the boys’ locker room, and the right to the girls’. This is when Scorpius realized that there were gold signs everywhere, with directions and labels of various rooms. 

 

He went back into the main entrance looking for a sign that could possibly lead him to the offices. He found it quickly. The lower floor arch on his right went to the Fine Arts wing, and on his left the sign read Administration. 

 

Scorpius wandered down the wide hall for a few moments, appreciating various awards and trophies that lined the walls, before finding himself in a waiting area with cushy red chairs and couches. 

“Um, excuse me?” Scorpius was hesitant to interrupt the woman at the front desk who appeared to be typing diligently on her computer.

 

“Hello dear!” Scorpius was taken aback by her seven forty-five am energy. “How can I help you?”

 

“I’m a new student and I was told in my leaflet that I was to come to the office.” Scorpius had trouble focusing on his own words as he realized that the woman hadn’t ceased her ferocious typing. 

 

“Of course. What’s your name? We have a few new students joining us this term.”

 

“Scorpius Malfoy.” He answered with a sigh of relief. It was nice knowing he wouldn't be the only person out of place.

 

“Wonderful! Here’s your schedule and your student ID, you need to wear the lanyard around your neck, I know it’s very annoying.” She smiled at the look Scorpius gave. He took the items and elected that it wouldn’t be that bad if everyone else had to do it, too. 

 

“Thank you.” He replied, with a smile of his own. 

 

“I’m Mrs. Sprout. If you need anything else, I’m always sitting right here.” Scorpius shot another look, this one of fear. “Oh, goodness me!” The woman, Mrs. Sprout, shook her head apologetically. “I knew I was forgetting something.” She leaned down and pressed a button on a microphone. “Miss Longbottom, if I could trouble you to come down to the office. Thank you!” 

 

Scorpius learned immediately that Mrs. Sprout was using an intercom system. Similarly to his ignorance of the gold signs, he neglected to realize that the school was impressively fitted with technology despite how old the building looked. 

 

A short blonde girl with plump cheeks but an otherwise slim figure entered the room with a smile on her face. 

 

“You rang?” She said in an almost sing-songy voice. 

 

“Yes, dear.” Mrs. Sprout liked to call people that. “Could you show Scorpius around school? Today is his first day. He’s a junior, he has his schedule. I’ll send emails to both of your first period teachers that you’re busy and then you can take him to US History with you, as you have it together second period.”

 

The girl turned to Scorpius and beamed. 

 

“Scorpius, is it?” He nodded his head as he extended his arm to meet hers. “I’m Alice Longbottom. I’m a senior, and I do a lot of this type of stuff.” Scorpius had a feeling he was in wonderful hands.  

 

“It’s great to meet you.” He replied, trying to match her smile. 

 

“And the same to you! Are you ready to start your journey at Ilvermorny Prep?” She raised an eyebrow. 

 

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.” 


	2. (Not So) Unattractive

Scorpius remained a pace or two behind Alice as she led him back down the hall to the school’s entrance. Along the way she pointed to various trophies and plaques, speaking animatedly about their significance. 

 

“This one is from when my parents went here!” She stopped next to a slightly rusty gold cup. 

 

“Your parents were students here?” Scorpius fell into place next to her, reading the engraving at the bottom of the cup. 

 

“Yeah, they met here! It’s weird, actually. A lot of people meet and fall in love here. Maybe you’ll get lucky too.” She said this last bit with a wink. 

 

Scorpius shook his head and laughed as they continued to walk away from the Massachusetts State Men’s Basketball Championship 1997-1998 memorial. He continued to smile to himself as the old photograph of the winning team hoisting the same cup over their heads emblazoned itself in his mind. 

 

“Do you play any sports?” Alice questioned, as if reading his mind. 

 

“Not anymore, no. My parents had me in junior leagues but it was never really my thing. I like art.” Scorpius was proud of his passions, but did wish he was at least a bit more athletic. “What about you?” 

 

“I played volleyball, but my last season is over now. It was fun.” She mused. “The Fine Arts wing is right across from Administration, though. We can go there next?”

 

“Sounds perfect!” Finally, something that would surely make sense to Scorpius. 

 

He continues to follow Alice as she pointed out the many art rooms. Sculpting, painting, drawing, and crafts all had their own dedicated classrooms, as well as several general art rooms. 

 

“I think this is the one I’ll be in later,” Scorpius pointed to room 113, where his last period was held according to his schedule from Mrs. Sprout. 

 

“Ooo, Honors Art! You must really be good.” Alice seemed so excited as it was that he didn’t want to tell her that he had already completed the honors and advanced placement art courses at his high school in the city, and had been taking art classes at Columbia University the previous fall. He didn’t want to seem like he was bragging about himself when they had just met. 

 

“What other classes do you have?” She took his schedule before he could even answer. 

 

It didn’t matter, because he already had it memorized. 

 

_ First Period:  _ **AP Literature**

Room 224, R. Lupin

 

_ Second Period:  _ **United States History**

Room 237, C. Binns

 

_ Third Period:  _ **Physical Education**

West Gymnasium, R. Hooch

 

**Lunch**

 

_ Fourth Period:  _ **Biology**

MWF Room 256, N. Longbottom

TueThu Lab B, N. Longbottom

 

_ Fifth Period:  _ **Pre-Calculus**

Room 275, M. McGonagall

 

_ Sixth Period:  _ **Honors Art**

Room 113, S. Trelawney

 

Alice had something to say about every single class. Mr. Lupin was apparently one of her favorite teachers, she had the same second period as him, third period gym was second best to only having it at the very end of the day (you have more time to wash up since lunch is right after), her father teaches Biology (“You should have taken AP! I bet you’re smart enough!”) (Scorpius knew he wasn’t), Mrs. McGonagall is one of the hardest teachers at IPHS, and Trelawney is a bit of a nut. 

 

Scorpius couldn’t tell if he was excited or not. 

 

They went up what he learned was the West Stairwell toward the Math and Science Wing. One of the archways led to the math and physics rooms, and the other went to some science lecture halls and several labs. Alice explained that lab sections were broken up into smaller groups and that of the three or four instructors he could have gotten for Biolab, her father was the best. Then she showed him the classrooms and the lab he’d be in, as well as pointing out some of the other rooms and waving to her father who was mid-lecture. 

 

They went back to the stairwells and crossed to the Language Arts and Social Studies Wing. The archway closest to the East Stairwell had English, foreign language, and writing classes. The further one housed history, government, psychology, sociology, etc. 

 

“Well, here we are.” Alice sighed as they stopped outside of the room labeled 237. “We have a couple more minutes until the bell, and then there’s a ten minute passing period between classes but obviously we can go right in since we’re here.”

 

“Wow, that’s a lot of time.” In New York, Scorpius maybe half of that when he was at school. 

 

“Yeah. It’s a big school and there’s lots of people.” Alice responded with a shrug as she peered through the glass windows around the door. 

 

“Why are you in the same history as me if you’re a senior?” Scorpius felt rude blurting it out, but it’s something he had been wondering since he first met her. 

 

She shrugged again. “We can pretty much take the Social Sciences whenever we want as long as we take all the requirements to graduate. Fine Arts and Gym requirements work the same way. Even English, Math, and Science sometimes too. It depends on your skill level I guess.”

 

Scorpius mumbles a soft “oh” while a low buzzing tone went off. Three silent beats passed before the corridor erupted in noise and bodies. The doors lining the walls opened and students poured out, so much was happening that Scorpius barely knew where to focus. 

 

Several people leaving Room 237 said hello to Alice and some even shot him a smile, too. About the same number gave him odd looks but this was expected as a new kid. 

 

Once everyone was gone from the room besides a few students asking questions about this semester’s syllabus, Scorpius followed Alice into the room. 

 

The board was to the left of the door and to the right rows of desks sat with a large teacher’s desk in the back of the room. The podium as well as the desk had little gold plaques, Scorpius assumed they both read “C. Binns” (he could see the podium, but not the desk). It looked like a regular classroom besides the fact that the half of the board closest to the podium appeared to be some kind of screen. 

 

Again, as if reading his mind, Alice gestured to it. “Half whiteboard, half smartboard. Most teachers use it to project PowerPoints while they write stuff on the other side. 

 

Scorpius nodded and was about to go take his seat when Mr. Binns cleared his throat. Scorpius turned, noting that the computer board now showed a diagram of the room, with students names in what would be their assigned seats. It was done alphabetically, starting in the farest seat in the front row, going up the row and starting again in the front. Scorpius was pleased to see “ _ A. Longbottom”  _ was directly in front of “ _ S. Malfoy”  _ in the third and fourth seats of the second row. Or column. Scorpius wasn’t really sure. 

 

He went over to his seat, a bit disappointed it was so far in the back, but thankful he wasn’t alone. He continued chatting with Alice until a tall girl with long brunette hair sat next to her. “ _ J. Finnigan”  _ (or Jess, as he found out from eavesdropping) seemed to be best friends. 

 

Looking back up to the board, Scorpius took note that an “ _ R. Granger-Weasley”  _ was to his left, an “ _ L. Scamander”  _ to his right and an “ _ A. Potter”  _ behind him. 

 

“ _ R. Granger-Weasley”  _ turned out to be a girl with freckled skin and the frizziest mop of red hair he’d ever seen. It was tied back in a ponytail, sure, but he could just  _ tell  _ it was a huge mass of curls. 

 

“ _ L. Scamander”  _ was twins with another “ _ L. Scamander”  _ and the two blond boys spent several minutes deciphering which one should sit where. 

 

“ _ A. Potter”  _ didn’t come in until the very last moments before the low buzz toned again. He was with another redhead and a dark skinned boy, all three of them tall, but the one who sat behind Scorpius had long, kind of wavy black hair and clear rimmed glasses. He didn’t want to fully turn around to confirm his theory, but it looked like shiny green eyes were hidden behind the frames. He wasn’t unattractive, Scorpius decided.

 

The redheaded girl whipped her head around and glared at the (possibly?) green eyed boy with a scowl that could only be given between two very familiar people. 

 

Scorpius wondered if they were dating. 

 


	3. (Not So) Athletic

Despite the heat outside, Scorpius felt cold and overexposed in his gym uniform. The options here were t-shirts, tank tops, and awkwardly short shorts in the Ilvermorny blue and cranberry. The exit of the boys’ locker room led to a small passageway that joined both sexes locker rooms with the corridors to both gymnasiums. Scorpius wasn’t exactly sure what the school needed two gyms for, as his quick Google-stalk on his laptop during history told him that Ms. Hooch was the only Physical Education teacher listed. To the left was the East gym and to the right was the West. In the middle, straight ahead, double doors led out to the parking lot and all of the sports complexes (or so the signage read). 

He couldn’t help but gasp when he walked through the doors and into the West gym. The entire back wall was glass windows. The door to the parking lot must have led to a set of stairs because the gym was still perched a little higher than the valley. There were two men working to ice the parking lot, one very tall and broad and the other short and slight. The snow on the cliffs around the valley made for a gorgeous site. 

Ms. Hooch didn’t waste much time taking roll and telling everyone to pair off. Scorpius glanced around the grand room and noticed many people already in doubles. He tried to look for someone he recognized. Two large boys who sat at the front of his history class were together, which was fine as Scorpius would not have been interested in working with him, and the blond twins were also paired up. The only other person he “knew” was the redheaded girl who sat next to him. She was currently wrestling to get her hair altogether in a bun. 

“Uh, hi. I’m Scorpius. I sit next to you in second period. I mean, you probably know that. It just happened. Um. Anyway, I’m new, and so I was wondering if you wanted to be lifting partners.” Scorpius almost had to use his hand to physically stop himself from moving. 

The girl just stared at him, with an odd look on her face. 

“Unless you think I wouldn’t be strong enough to spot you,” he added quickly, “I’m really not that athletic.” To this, she burst out laughing.

“Oh my  _ god _ Scorpius. You’re a laugh. I’m Rose, and I think we’ll be just fine.” She mocked flexing her muscles, and Scorpius laughed too. 

Once everyone had a partner, Ms. Hooch led them back through the corridor to the East gym. And now Scorpius understood why there were two. It was the same size and architecture as the other, but this one was full of weights, treadmills, mats, and other such machines and training gym items. 

“Wow.” He whispered to Rose as Hooch explained that every class began with 20 minutes of training, then they worked on whatever sports unit they were on. 

“I know, some big donor from a few years back.”

They chatted minimally while stretching, Scorpius learning that Rose’s parents went to IPHS and that her brother was a freshman. She wanted to hear about New York more than she wanted to talk about herself, though. She thought she was boring having lived in Newton her entire life. 

“Do you have any siblings?”

“No, I’m a singleton.” They both giggled. “I have a couple cousins, but they live in California.”

“Wow, New York and California. Cool family.”

“Not really,” Scorpius shrugged, “I’m lucky to be close with my parents. It’d be lonely otherwise.”

“God, I’d  _ kill  _ to be lonely.”

“How do you mean?”

“You talk funny.”

“So do you,  _ god.” _

Rose chuckled, “I have my brother, of course, but my dad is one of seven. And almost all of them live in the Boston area. I have three cousins who're seniors, a sophomores, and two freshman. And Albus, of course, who’s in our grade. Sat behind you in history.”

“He’s not your boyfriend?” Scorpius blurted. He needed to get better at that.

Rose almost dropped the bar on her chest. Luckily, Scorpius’ reflexes made it so she wasn’t struggling to get it back up herself. They were now both struggling to get it back up. 

“What?” Rose panted.

“Well, you gave him a look, and I assumed it was romantic?” Scorpius didn’t have much of an excuse.

“God. Another hopeless romantic. You’ll fit right in here.”

Scorpius blinked. 

“Lovermorny? Haven’t you heard the of ~the curse~?” She said that last bit with a bit of flair. 

“Someone mentioned a lot of people meet and date and get married or whatever, but I didn’t know it was intense.”

“All of my uncles and my aunt met their spouse here. Like all my friends’ parents too. It’s weird.”

“That is odd, but sorry I assumed you two were together.” Scorpius smiled apologetically. 

“It’s alright. Just never say it again.” Her mock seriousness had them both laughing all the way back to the West gym, where they played a few full-heared games of dodgeball. 

They walked back to the locker rooms and Rose told Scorpius to wait for her to change so they could go to lunch together. He’d been lucky that the two people he’d met so far had been nice. Rose was more than nice, though, she was hilarious and witty and so smart. Definitely good friend material. If he was straight, well, that would be another issue.

He was only waiting by the girls’ locker room staircase for about a minute when she emerged with half her hair in a ponytail and the other half hanging down on her shoulders. 

“This is the third hairstyle I’ve seen you in today.” Scorpius pointed out. 

“Wow. You really are gay, no one else would have noticed that.”

Scorpius smiled and nudged her shoulder. “That’s a bit of a typecast, don’t you think?” He told her immediately when she had asked if the reason he thought she and her cousin were dating was that he was interested in her. She nodded and decided he must be interested in Albus, then. Scorpius didn’t have the energy to try and prove her otherwise. 

“Can it, newbie, you need me to show you around. The lunch line on the west side is for upperclassmen, so that is where we will be going.” She led him to the far right corner of the cafeteria and through the archway. 

“The food looks fantastic,” Scorpius said with his mouth slightly agape. 

“Don’t drool,” Rose replied, “I agree, though. We always have really good food.”

Once they went through the line and had their cards scanned to pay, Scorpius followed Rose to the end of the junior table furthest from the teachers. 

“Alright,” she started as they approached, “this is Scorpius, everyone. Everyone, Scorpius.”

There was only one other girl sitting in their little section, who quickly introduced herself as Margot. She had dark skin and thick curly hair, not unlike Rose’s. The blond twins introduced themselves and Lorcan and Lysander. Another tanned boy sat amongst them, his hair almost as pale as Scorpius’ (though this guy must have been dying his) and announced his name as Abel. 

“I’m Al, I sit behind you in history I think.” A startlingly loud voice came from right behind where he and Rose were standing. Scorpius whipped around to find himself face to face with the dark-haired boy who did, in fact, sit behind him in history.

“Yeah, I think so--” Scorpius was interrupted by a short girl standing next to Al with incredibly smooth skin. 

“I’m Anna. Can we please eat?”

They all sat down around the end of the table and did just that. Scorpius had a feeling he had made great friends, but couldn’t help but notice that Al and the girl he came with--Anna--seemed to be talking a lot to one another. 

Scorpius wondered if they were dating. 


	4. (Not So) Gossipy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plainly put, Scorpius wanted a chance to flirt with Albus Potter.

Scorpius had friends in New York City, of course, he did, but none like the friends he had made in his first two weeks at Ilvermorny Prep. Though not necessarily on purpose, he and Rose had become very good friends. 

She was very gossipy. 

Well, not nearly as gossipy as the other girls he now interacted with on a daily basis, but she was far more gossipy than any friend he had in New York. His friends there never talked about anyone but themselves, because they only cared about themselves. So oddly enough it was refreshing to have a friend to talk about rumors with. Rose also appreciated that Scorpius was gay but not in a ‘fetishizing and romanticising the gay best friend’ kind of way. He didn’t know how to explain it, but he truly felt like her equal. 

Though she assured him that he was genuinely her favorite friend despite only having just met, Scorpius couldn’t help but wonder if it was only because of how he compared to Rose’s other options. And it was not an irrational thing to be wondering. 

Anna Chang and Margot Shacklebolt had been best friends since pretty much forever with two other girls named Rachelle Slughorn and Katie Quirrell. According to Rose, they were actually pretty mean to her until her cousins James and Albus (a really weird full name for a hot guy, in Scorpius’ opinion) became popular. Al and Rachelle “dated” in middle school, which even Scorpius knew wasn’t grounds for a real relationship, and when Anna and Margot wanted to be friends with him still, the group split down the middle. 

The next chunk of the friend group was known within them as “The Blondes”. Abel Sinistra and Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were just plain odd. Scorpius learned quickly that Abel was technically best friends with Albus, but he was grouped in with the twins because he chose to dye his hair, liked things that Anna and Margot considered “weird and creepy” and was very progressively gender-fluid (but he was always comfortable with he/him pronouns). The twins were in Honors Art with Scorpius, which is where all three of them shone. But while Scorpius prefered charcoal and paint type mediums, the twins seemed to be working on something new everyday. Scorpius’ most notable favorites thus far being two foot embroidery hoops, handmade stained glass windows, and life-size macaroni sculptures. They also apparently had spent the last two and a half years taking turns asking Rose to the school dances. Which everyone thought was weird, but no one made any effort to derail the tradition. 

This left Albus. Al. Alboo. Big Bus. He had a lot of nicknames. He was wildly popular. As was his older brother and younger sister, Lily, who was also in Honors Art. He also had his biology lecture with the eldest Potter, but James was in a different lab section. Al and Rose had been best friends since conception, basically, but they had a falling out when Al “dated” Rachelle, because that was a bullshit douchebag thing to do (Rose’s words). They were now close again, but Al had Abel as well as his brother and other cousins and practically the entire school, or so it seemed to Scorpius. History was the only class he had with Al, and he wished Rose wasn’t with them. Well, no. He was glad to have her in the three classes they shared in the morning. But he wished he had a class with Albus without any of the other members of the gang. Plainly put, Scorpius wanted a chance to flirt with Albus Potter. 

Which is why, he supposed, he was spending his Friday night doing the last thing he would have ever thought he would ever do, ever. 

Sitting in the bleachers of the West gym. Watching the Ilvermorny Thunderbirds take on the South Newton Scorpions in boy’s basketball. 

Rose was shocked when he said he would go with her, because even in their short friendship she already knew how much he hated sports. Hate may not be the right word, but they just never interested him. Until Albus invited the friends to come watch him in the season’s home opener. Ok, not really until he said the after party was at his house since him and his brother were this year’s co-captains. Scorpius didn’t even want to go to the game, but he didn’t think he’d be able to get away with just showing up to the party. 

Now that he was watching Albus be all athletic he was happy he came. 

“Oh. My. God.” Rose sighed.

“What?” Scorpius responded, turning toward her after James made a three-point shot.

“You like him.” She raised an eyebrow. 

“No I don’t!” Scorpius whipped back around, ears turning red.

“No. You do. I joked about it but it’s actually true, wow.” Her words were bitter, yet her tone was anything but. 

“Ok. Maybe I have the tiniest crush.” He mumbled. 

“Oh! My! God! Scorpius!” Each word was punctuated with a nudge on the shoulder. “I think he has a thing for you too! Which is bad!”

“What! Wait, what?” His excitement didn’t last long before confusion set in.

“It’s not bad that he’d like you, in theory. I don’t mean it like that. Just, ugh. Let’s go to the concession stand and I’ll explain.” Though their voices were relatively low, it was hard to be discreet in a crowd of cheering teens. 

They walked along the far end, away from the little locker room corridor down a different hallway that led to food and bathrooms for visitors, fans, and parents. 

“So basically,” Rose began with a heaving sigh that signaled to Scorpius they were in for a long story, “Albus went to prom last year with a then-junior, now-senior named Jasey Bryce. She’s in AP Lit with us, sits in the left pod on the back wall with Margot and Lucas Crouch. Everyone thought they were gonna be together, like officially or whatever, but then apparently at post prom he was hanging out with this then-senior, now-freshman at MIT, who is a guy named Marcus Black, whose little brother is a grade below us.”

“Everyone spread rumors that they made out and it was never confirmed but they went home together and oh my god don’t tell anyone I’m telling you this but Al lost his virginity to him that night.”

Scorpius gasped, flickering his eyes back in the direction of the gym. “I never would have thought he was gay.”

“That’s the thing, he’s not.” Rose shook her head. “He’s bi, and this year he skipped homecoming to go visit Mark at MIT, but he already had a new guy he was with and Al was crushed. He started like, hooking up with a bunch of people. Not sex,” Rose rushed to clarify when Scorpius’ face went white. “Not even like hooking up like that. Just flirting and having things and sometimes making out.” Scorpius nodded

“Anyway, the reason it’s bad that I think he likes you is because Rachelle and him kissed at a New Years Eve party a couple weeks ago and everyone knows she’s wanted to get with him for a while now.”

“But why would it be bad if he liked me instead? And why do you think he likes me?” Scorpius wanted to be casual, but he knew he was coming off desperate. 

“Because Rachelle and Katie are not the people you want to be challenging in your first semester at Ilvermorny. And I’m not going to pretend like I don’t see you two flirting in History.”

Scorpius flushed again thinking about the times Albus would airdrop a meme to his laptop or poke his ears with pencils. He even passed him a note once, with his phone number scrawled on so they could instant message on their computers during Mr. Binns’ boring lectures. 

He opened his mouth to reply when the buzzer inside went off. The two rushed back in to see the Thunderbirds rushing the court to hug the team after a tremendous victory. They found it hard to breach the crowd when James had been yelling “PARTYYY PARTYYYYY PARTYYYYY AT THE POTTERS!!!”, but they eventually made their way to Albus. 

The shiny blue, cranberry, and pale gold uniforms looked fantastic on the entire team, but Al looked the best. The jersey tapered down to fit his torso perfectly, tucking into the shorts that were just the right amount of baggy. His legs looked a bit small in juxtaposition to his large high top basketball shoes but up close Scorpius could tell they were incredibly toned. The long pieces of his hair were pulled out of his face with a cranberry athletic band, and he was rubbing his eyes intensely. 

“I hate these things.” He murmured as Scorpius and Rose approached him, gesturing them to follow him toward the bench. They stood over him as he removed the contacts from his eyes and placed his glasses back on. Scorpius couldn’t help the butterflies in his stomach when Albus pushed them up his nose with the back of his knuckle. “And James definitely just left, so I don’t have a ride home.” He sighed and faced the two spectators. “No chance either of you wanted to go to the party and can take me?”

Rose smiled and pushed Scorpius up. “I’m not, gotta get home, you know how my mom is, but Scorpius would love to go! First IPHS party and all. He’ll take you!”

Before Scorpius could stop her, she was already out the gymnasium doors. 

“Well, I’m glad someone here isn’t totally lame.” Albus was smiling so brightly at Scorpius when he turned toward him again, he didn’t know how he was going to explain that he was totally lame, and still didn’t have a driver's license yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided I'm just going to finish this story before finishing my other ones even though they're older because I'm terrible??


End file.
